Lotto-Dstny CEO Stéphane Heulot on Caleb Ewan controversy: "Maybe I should have handled that internally"

Caleb Ewan will still race for Lotto-Dstny this season. After his much-discussed retirement from the Tour de France, the sprinter from Australia only finished the Championship of Flanders (32nd), but will return to racing on Tuesday in the Münsterland Giro.

Ewan leads the seven-man selection of his team, which also consists of Milan Menten, Rüdiger Selig, Jarrad Drizners, Joshua Giddings, Milan Menten, Michael Schwarzmann and Liam Slock. For Ewan himself, it will be his first race since the Gooikse Pijl on September 17, as he had to miss the races that followed due to a wrist injury. In Germany, Ewan will meet Olav Kooij, Jasper Philipsen and Mads Pedersen.

The fast Australian has been at odds with his team for some time, which was widely reported in the media. Lotto-Dstny seems to want to get rid of him, although CEO Stéphane Heulot recently made an attempt at HLN. "We are talking to Caleb and his agent about how we can help him. Caleb has talent, but right now it's not showing. We really tried everything to help him."

"I said things about Caleb that I meant, but maybe I should have handled that internally. I therefore regret that it turned out this way," said Heulot, who was referring to his statements during the Tour de France. "I am very, very disappointed in him. That's not how you leave the Tour. He just hung his head. In a way that I can't say a good word about. A real champion lifts his team, he doesn't do this," the team boss of the Belgian formation noted during the Tour de France after the resignation of his leader.